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Reports are now confirmed that actor Bill Paxton passed away this Oscar-weekend at the age of 61 due to complications from surgery. Paxton began his career in Hollywood doing art department and background work before he was cast in a small cameo in The Terminator by director James Cameron in 1984. Since then, Paxton has gone on to star in many roles in an impressive number of iconic films. He again teamed up with Cameron for Aliens as Private Hudson in 1986, and has starred in blockbusters like Tombstone (1993), True Lies (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Twister (1996), Titanic (1997), U-571 (2000), Vertical Limit (2000), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and Nightcrawler (2014). His most recent project was the lead in a television adaptation of director Antione Fuqua’s 2001 cop-drama Training Day.

In addition to acting, Paxton also directed a number of pictures. He directed himself and co-stars Matthew McConaughey and Powers Boothe in the violent FBI drama Frailty (2001), and Shia LaBeouf in The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005). His final role will be in a film called The Circle, opposite Emma Watson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Beauty and the Beast), Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Big Short), and Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, Bridge of Spies). His contribution to film throughout the years will surely be missed in the years to come. Thanks Bill for all of your great work. Our thoughts are with your family and friends. Continue reading →

On December 1, 1983, director Brian de Palma (The Untouchables, Carlito’s Way) released his modernized version of Ben Hecht and Howard Hawks’ 1930s gangster drama, Scarface. While the original followed a charismatic Chicago mobster in the Prohibition era, de Palma’s version took the character to violent world of the 1980s drug trade in Miami, Florida. Fueled by Al Pacino‘s riveting performance and backed by an outstanding supporting cast that included Michelle Pfeiffer (What Lies Beneath, Batman Returns), Steven Bauer (Raising Cain, Primal Fear), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (The Abyss, The Perfect Storm) and Robert Loggia (Big, Independence Day), Scarface ushered in a new era of gangster movies far darker than Francis Coppola’s The Godfather series just a decade before. One of the primary reasons is because of de Palma’s direction. Continue reading →

Filmmaker Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer) is currently working on principle photography for his upcoming remake of the classic 1960 western The Magnificent Seven. The original film was directed by legendary director John Sturges (The Great Escape, Joe Kidd) and featured an all-star cast that included Yul Brynner (The Ten Commandments), Eli Wallach (The Good The Bad and the Ugly), Steve McQueen (Bullitt), Charles Bronson (Death Wish), Robert Vaughn (Julius Caesar), Brad Dexter (Run Silent Run Deep), and James Coburn (Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid). Composer Elmer Bernstein received an Oscar-nomination for Best Musical Score (Drama/Comedy) for his work on the picture, and the film was selected for the National Film Registry by the National Film Preservation Board in 2013. Continue reading →

Rumors have been flying around Hollywood for the last year or so regarding a potential third installment of Michael Bay’s Bad Boys film series with Will Smith (Men In Black, Independence Day) and Martin Lawrence (Life, Big Momma’s House), and now Sony Pictures has confirmed that a sequel is definitely happening. But it’s not only one sequel that fans can look forward to. According to Sony, Bad Boys 3 AND 4 now have official release dates for February 2017 and July 2019, in a list that also detailed release dates for a Jumanji reboot, a remake of the classic Magnificent Seven by director Antione Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer), and an adaptation of The Dark Tower from director Nikolaj Arcel (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, A Royal Affair). Original Bad Boys director Michael Bay (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor) is not currently attached to these new films, at least not in a directorial function. It has been rumored that Smokin’ Aces and The Grey director Joe Carnahan will be taking over the reigns for these new installments, as Bay is currently working on production of several new films, including Transformers 5, The Purge 3, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, and a Friday the 13th reboot. Stay tuned for more news.

The new boxing drama Southpaw from The Shield and Sons of Anarchy writer/director Kurt Sutter is opening in theaters this Friday, July 24th. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer), the film stars Oscar-nominee Jake Gyllenhaal (October Sky, Prisoners) as boxer Billy Hope, who looks to boxing-trainer Tick Willis (portrayed by fellow Oscar-nominee Forest Whitaker) to help him train for a fight after the death of his wife and loss of his daughter to child services. Also starring in the film are actors Rachel McAdams (Wedding Crashers, A Most Wanted Man), Oona Laurence (Penny Dreadful, Lamb), and Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Skyfall). The trailer is here on MADE. See it on the big screen this Friday!

This July, fans of director Antione Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer) will be able to see his latest film on the big screen. The film is called Southpaw and comes from a script by The Shield and Sons of Anarchy writer/creator Kurt Sutter about a boxer who makes his way to the height of his fame and career, while his personal life slowly collapses right before his eyes. Starring in the leading role is Oscar-nominee Jake Gyllenhaal (October Sky, Nightcrawler), as well as Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Skyfall), Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker (Platoon, Lee Daniel’s The Butler), and Rachel McAdams (Wedding Crashers, Midnight in Paris). The trailer is available here on MADE. We’ll keep you posted as we get closer to the release date. Stay tuned!

The Oscar-winning composer behind such famous scores as Titanic, Field of Dreams, Apollo 13, and A Perfect Storm, James Horner, has died at the age of 61 in Santa Barbara, California. Horner was flying a small single-engine aircraft when the plane went down, killing him and potentially another passenger. Horner’s reputation in Hollywood was impeccable; he was a long-time collaborator with director James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar) and producer Roger Corman (The Lady in Red, Battle Beyond the Stars), and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards (winning 2 for Titanic) and also won 4 Grammy’s (from a total of 11 nominations) for his work on Celine Dion‘s My Heart Will Go On and Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram‘s Somewhere Out There. Horner’s most recent work include Antione Fuqua‘s upcoming boxing drama Southpaw with Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, and Naomie Harris, and The 33, a drama revolving around the coal-mining disaster in which 33 miners were trapped underground for 69 days. These will become Horner’s final projects; Southpaw is due out July 24th, while The 33 is expected in theaters November 13th, 2015. His work, his passion for music and his influence on film will be truly missed.

Director Antoine Fuqua‘s film adaptation of The Equalizer with Denzel Washington is coming to theaters this September 26th. The film is based on the 1980s TV series by screenwriter Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim and follows a retired Robert McCall (Washington) as he goes to the aid of a girl under the control of the Russian mafia. Denzel is joined on screen by Marton Csokas (Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Bourne Supremacy), Chloe Grace Moretz (Hugo, Carrie), and Bill Pullman (Spaceballs, Independence Day) among others, but the film adaptation has received mixed reviews thus far. Some are criticizing the character differences between Denzel’s strong-minded McCall and Edward Woodward’s addicted down-on-your-luck private detective, but overall the critics seem pleased and Antoine Fuqua has received positive praise for his directing efforts on the film. But considering Denzel Washington won his Oscar for Best Actor working with Fuqua on Training Day back in 2001, that should really come as no surprise, and based on what we’ve seen in the trailers, it looks like it will be a really fun watch. You can watch the trailer here on MADE, but be sure to mark September 26th on your calender!

The Equalizer was a popular crime-drama from 1985 to 1989, which starred Edward Woodward in his Golden Globe winning role as private detective Robert McCall. Sony Pictures is currently wrapping up production on a film adaptation of the series, this time starring Denzel Washington as a retired McCall who is called back to action to rescue a young woman from Russian gangsters, and the studio may already be consider a sequel for the project. Screenwriter Richard Wenk, who wrote the script for the upcoming film, will return to script the sequel, but neither Washington or director Antoine Fuqua are currently signed on for a second movie. If The Equalizer does well when it hits theaters this Fall, however, maybe the studio will be quicker to draw up some new contracts.

John Singleton came right into the spotlight of Hollywood in 1991 when Boyz N The Hood was released to audiences already enveloped in the turbulent grunge/rave scene of the early ’90s. The filmmaker attended USC immediately after graduating from high school in 1986. During his time at school he wrote the script for Boyz N The Hood which was then picked up by Columbia Pictures, who then financed the film and earned Singleton two Oscar nominations, one for Best Director and the other for Best Screenplay (written directly for the screen). Singleton has done an impressive body of work since then, going on to write/direct Poetic Justice (1993) and Shaft (2000), as well as direct films such as 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and Four Brothers (2005). Now Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Singleton has signed on to re-write the screenplay and also produce and direct a film about the late rapper Tupac Shakur. A biopic about the artist was in the works a few years ago with Antoine Fuqua heading the project, but the director fell away from the movie, which will now be co-produced/financed by Morgan Creek Films and Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films. Tupac was a highly influential artist in the early 1990s, with his work consisting of themes involving social class systems and the economic hardships and conditions of inner city living to name a few. He also made several appearances as an actor, including a supporting role in John Singleton’s Poetic Justice, making the director’s involvement with this biopic all the more personal. Tupac was wounded in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996, and died at UMC Southern Nevada six days later at the age of 25. There is no word yet as to who will be taking on the role of Tupac.